incense

Avoid incense

Source: featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com Author: Julie Deardorff You know you're in a yoga or massage studio when the smell of Nag Champa incense--a blend of patchouli and sandalwood--permeates the air. But you may not want to breathe too deep. Incense contains potent pollutants, notably benzene, toluene and formaldehyde--known carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, according to the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. "A study in the journal Cancer linked long-term incense use with a significant increase in cancers of the upper respiratory tract (nose, tongue, mouth and larynx, for instance,) but not lung cancer. Incense also pollutes the air with fine particles that can be inhaled and can contribute to cardiorespiratory disease."

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-05T07:48:59-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Incense linked to cancer

Source: www.cavalierdaily.com Author: Surabhi Bhatt Burning incense is an age-old practice in many cultures’ religious and spiritual ceremonies — especially in Asia — and its use has gained popularity in Western countries as well. Researchers at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, however, have raised concerns about the possible health risks associated with long-term exposure to incense. Led by Dr. Jeppe T. Friborg of the Epidemiology Department, the study followed more than 61,000 cancer-free Singaporean Chinese men and women between the ages of 45 and 74 from 1993 to 2005. Participants were asked to report on their average incense use in their homes, including how often they burned it and for how long. During the study’s 12-year duration, 325 men and women developed cancer of the upper respiratory tract, such as nasal, oral or throat cancer. Another 821 developed lung cancer. Although the overall risk of lung cancer was not found to increase with incense use, the study suggested that greater incense use can lead to a heightened risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, which is the second most common type of lung cancer. Some supporting evidence may be that the burning materials from which incense is derived — including oils and plant materials — have been found to produce potentially cancer-causing substances, including benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Friborg’s study, though, is the first to link long-term incense use to an increased risk of developing cancer.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-10-14T08:49:15-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Burning incense increases risk of respiratory tract cancers

Source: ScienceDaily (www.sciencedaily.com) Author: staff Long term use of incense increases the risk of developing cancers of the respiratory tract, according to a new study. The new analysis, which the authors say is the first prospective investigation of incense and cancer risk, appears in the October 1, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Incense is an integral part of daily life in large parts of Asia. Researchers have shown that burning incense—which is made of plant materials mixed with oils—produces a mixture of possible carcinogens, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, carbonyls and benzene. Because incense smoke is inhaled, a number of studies have looked at the possible link between incense burning and lung cancer, but results have been inconsistent. In addition, the possible association of incense use and other respiratory tract cancers has not been analyzed. To investigate this, Dr. Jeppe Friborg of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark and colleagues in Singapore and the U.S. studied the associations between exposure to incense and the whole spectrum of respiratory tract cancers in a large population in Singapore. The study involved 61,320 Singapore Chinese who were free of cancer and aged 45-74 years in 1993-1998. At that time, they completed a comprehensive interview on living conditions and dietary and lifestyle factors. The investigators followed these individuals through 2005, noting which participants developed cancer during that time. Dr. Friborg's team documented a total of 325 upper respiratory tract cancers (including nasal/sinus, tongue, mouth, laryngeal and other cancers) [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-25T18:36:04-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|